


Salt and Burn

by purgatoan



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Hellhounds, Implied Sexual Content, Light Angst, M/M, Multi, Referenced past character death, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-15
Updated: 2017-06-15
Packaged: 2018-11-14 11:36:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11207283
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/purgatoan/pseuds/purgatoan
Summary: One morning, Dean sees Sam and Cas taking care of a a hellhound puppy, and he’s unable to say no to keeping her. How’s their life going to change with a four-legged creature running around the Bunker?





	Salt and Burn

**Author's Note:**

> Unbeta’d, so all the mistakes are mine!
> 
> This fluffy thing destroyed me and I really hope you’re going to like it ;) And big thanks to [justanothersaltandburn](http://justanothersaltandburn.tumblr.com) on Tumblr for giving me an idea for the ending!

The bed was empty as Dean woke up, but the sheets were still warm, meaning that Sam and Cas hadn’t woken up long ago. He stretched out, groaning at his completely numb arm; he bet Cas had slept on it. Rubbing his eyes, Dean sat up on the bed, flicking the lamp on the nightstand on. The clock read 7am and it was a ridiculous time to start the day, considering that they had gotten back from the case yesterday, but the curiosity was getting the better of Dean.

Where the hell had Sam and Cas gone? 

The hallway was empty when he exited the room and the steps seemed weirdly loud as he headed to the kitchen, freezing on the spot when he heard a weird sound coming from one of the rooms on the way. Slowly, Dean walked right to the door, pressing his ear against the wooden surface, but he wasn’t able to make out anything, it was all a jumble of indistinguishable sounds.

Hand on the doorknob, he took a deep breath, pushing the door open. The hinges creaked slightly when Dean entered and he raised his eyebrows, seeing Cas and Sam crouching in the middle of a room, in front of a suspicious-looking pile of clothes.

Seeing Dean, Cas got up abruptly, pure shock painted across his face. “Dean, allow us to explain-”

“What the hell are you doing?” Dean asked, frowning when he heard a growl, clearly coming from the pile that seemed to be moving just the slightest bit. That didn’t look good.

“We can show you, but don’t freak out, okay?” Sam smiled apologetically, burying his hands in the pile of clothes. When Dean nodded hesitantly, he pulled something out of this pile that looked like a dirty ball of fur, and it was slightly wiggling in Sam’s grip as he walked closer to Dean.

Dean gritted his teeth. “Please, tell me it’s not a fucking dog.”

“Technically, it’s not.” Sam laughed nervously, petting the little ball that started quietly squealing the moment he began touching it. “I’m already dead for keeping her, so I can be honest, it’s not like it’s going to change something. She’s a hellhound.”

“What?” Dean growled. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Cas shook his head, walking closer to Sam and resting his hand on the little ball of fur for a moment. “We’re not kidding you, Dean,” he answered, making air quotes while saying the phrase kidding. “Crowley contacted Sam a few hours ago and asked him to take care of this puppy, because it was rejected by her mother.”

Dean raised his eyebrows. “Rejected? That doesn’t make any sense. And how the hell can I see this thing? Shouldn’t it be invisible?”

“It’s not an it, Dean. It’s a she.” Cas corrected, making Dean roll his eyes at him. “The visibility is one of the reasons among many that the mother rejected this one. She’s also too soft for a hellhound and doesn’t express the need to be violent, as opposed to the rest of the litter.”

Dean took a step closer to the puppy, scrunching his forehead as she began to wail in Sam’s arms, wriggling out of his grip. She would have fallen to the floor, but Dean caught the puppy thanks to his reflexes, freezing on spot once he was faced with the creature from up close.

Surprisingly, the hellhound was more similar to a normal puppy than he had thought it would be. Her fur was fluffy and soft under his touch, her tongue sticking out of her mouth as she turned her head to look at him. Then, she licked his hand, her wet warm nose nuzzling against his skin. Her eyes were sparkling in the dim light of the room as she focused her attention on Dean.

Dean barely suppressed a smile at the sight.

He turned his attention to Sam and handed the puppy to him, his hand lingering on her fur for a moment. “So, Crowley calls you saying: Moose, I’ve got a hellhound for you, and you, what? Say hell yeah?” Dean asked, being met with a bitchface from Sam.

“Crowley didn’t call me, he appeared here with her in his arms. What was I supposed to do, tell him to throw her away?” Sam scoffed, scratching the puppy behind her right ear.

“Fine, whatever.” Dean sighed, crossing his arms in front of himself. “She’s got a name or something?”

Cas shook his head. “We haven’t named her yet, we wanted to wait for you with that.”

“Wait for me? Why?” Dean scrunched his eyebrows.

Sam smiled sheepishly. “Well, it’s the first animal we’ve got to take care of together, ever, so naming her together seemed like a good idea as well. If you want to keep her, I mean.”

“Yeah, who do you think I am? We can keep her, we’re not gonna get rid of a damn puppy. I’m not an asshole, for god’s sake.” Dean agreed, not missing the way Sam’s face lit up with a smile. “Any ideas for a name, or do you want me to come up with something?”

“Go ahead,” Sam said, giving Dean a nod.

Dean let himself think for a minute, going through all the options that were in his head. There were quite a few, but none of them seemed to fit. Eventually, he stumbled upon a perfect one, feeling the corners of his lips stretch into a smile. “How about Salt?”

“I like it.” Sam grinned, and when Dean turned his attention to Cas, there was a smile on his face as well.

***

Getting used to having a puppy in the Bunker wasn’t as difficult as Dean had suspected it to be. 

Salt was a smart little creature, learning all the small and necessary things really fast, surprising all of them with how quickly she fit within their routine. 

Sam would be the one to take her out in the morning; he had never had the company for his jogs and Salt fulfilled the role perfectly. She was always barking as she was waiting for Sam to get ready, often waking Dean up in the process. However, he never had the heart to do anything about that, pretending he was asleep, so Sam wouldn’t end up apologizing for the fact she was making noise.

Dean would already get out of bed and have the breakfast ready when Sam would get back, Salt right on his tail, sinking her teeth in Dean’s slippers when she saw he was cooking. He would play with her, moving his feet just a bit, listening to her adorable growls as she struggled to pull the slippers off, never actually succeeding.

Cas would spend time with her when Sam and Dean were doing research, talking to her in a patient and soft voice. She would nuzzle her head against his hand, wagging her tail in excitement, little barks escaping her here and there, making it seem like she was engaging actively in the conversation. The way Salt would tilt her head made it seem like she really listened, and, maybe she did?

She also learned to help them with the research fairly quickly, bringing them the books they needed from where they had left them. Often, they were bigger than Salt was and she would drag them behind her as she was trying to carry them, but soon she got stronger as she grew bigger, and she stopped having trouble doing that. Also, she would help them with packing whenever they had to leave, bringing them weapons and anything else they needed.

Fortunately for them, Salt was much more similar to a dog than a hellhound, and feeding her with dog food and scraps from their meals was just fine. They didn’t need to buy raw meat for her or anything like that and they couldn’t be more thankful for that turn of events, it made taking care of her easier and less creepy. Actually, she just seemed like a weird dog that grew really fast and demanded attention. Her appearance was the only difference they spotted at first.

After some time, they spotted more.

Taking her to hunts hadn’t been in cards at the beginning, but leaving her alone in the Bunker for more than a day wasn’t a good idea, either. At first, Cas would ride in the backseat with Salt, having her sprawled on his lap or nearby, and she got used to that fairly quickly, making it possible for Sam and Dean to go on hunts without Cas having to take care of her. Actually, she seemed to like travelling, if they were to judge by the way she would jump straight into the Impala whenever Dean left the door open.

They usually made her stay behind in the motel, but one day Salt managed to open the door somehow, coming to the rescue in the best moment possible. Both Sam and Dean were pinned to the wall, having lost their chance at shooting the witch, and she barged in, teeth bared, coming for the witch’s legs. The spells casted by the witch at Salt didn’t seem to have any effect on her and she knocked the witch to the ground, letting Sam and Dean grab their guns and end the witch without any trouble.

From then on, she never stayed behind, proving to be incredibly dangerous whenever someone tried to hurt any of the three. 

There were also smaller things that didn’t seem like a big deal at first.

Whenever Sam, Dean and Cas were arguing, she would bark as loudly as possible, and it nearly seemed like she was yelling at them for being stupid and trying to make them realize how ridiculous they were being. Often, it worked, and their conflicts were being solved much faster than they had been before they had her.

Sometimes, Salt was a giant pain in the ass, too, scratching the door of their room when they were trying to get some time alone, often interrupting the rare times when they could have sex. It seemed almost like she was waiting for them to start getting it on, then she would do anything in her power to distract them by sitting at the door and howling to the damn moon, and that usually resulted in them letting her inside the room anyway. Well, at least she made it up for that by being adorable and sweet.

And, one thing that surprised them all the most was the fact how at ease Dean felt around her.

It was no secret that since getting killed by the hellhounds he had had trouble feeling comfortable around dogs, but Salt had seemed to help with that issue. By blood, she was a hellhound after all, and knowing she would never hurt any of them was filling Dean with a sense of peace, allowing him to relax completely in her presence. Dean was perfectly sure that she had sensed his discomfort at the beginning and tried to help him with that, succeeding completely.

Salt was by his side all the time, especially when he was going through trouble that he would never share with anyone. She would look right into his eyes, pure intelligence shining in hers, and that would assure him that he wasn’t alone with his problems. If anyone had said to him that he would be talking to a dog about everything he wasn’t ready to talk about with anyone else, he’d have laughed his ass off, but that was the reality.

And, even though the three of them sleeping one one bed with a huge dog was proving to be a bit uncomfortable, they wouldn’t change it for anything else. 

Salt was family and they loved her with everything they had.

And that’s why Dean didn’t even try to pretend he was thinking the situation through when Crowley appeared with another hellhound puppy, explaining that the mother rejected him for the same reasons she had rejected Salt one day.

With a smile on his face, he took the puppy from Crowley and pulled him closer, ruffling his soft fur.

After all, Salt shouldn’t be alone, and Burn soon became the perfect companion for her. She took him under her wing, teaching him everything that she knew, taking care of him the best she could. And the Bunker was never quiet anymore, filled with happy barking of two hellhounds that became unplanned but wonderful members of the Winchesters and Cas’ family.


End file.
